Vacuum-cleaner.



.i. H. TAYLOR.

VACUUM GLEANER.

APPLICATION FLJD JUNE 12. 1911.

Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI l- J. H. TAYLOR.

VACUUM CLEANER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE l2. 19:1.

. 1 157,456. Patented 0%. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

To all whom it may concern JAMES H. TAYLOR, 0F TOLEDG, JP .10.

vacuum-ornamen Be it known that 1, JAMES H. TAYLom a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in thecountyof Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vacuum-Cleaners; and I do. declare the folloyvin to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use'the same, reference being had to the accompanying draw'ings, and to the letters and figures of referencemarked thereon, which-form a of a. common carpet sweep-er,

part of this specification.

My invention relates to a vacuum carpetbleaner, operatedby hand after the fashion and is designed to furnish a mechanism by which the exhaust fan is caused to rot-ate constantly in one direction by means of. the to-and-fro motion of. the machine upon the-floor and gearing intermediate the supporting wheels of the machine and the fan. 1

My invention is also. designed to furnish automaticdevices for slightly tilting the mouth of the lnlet nozzle atits advance side i as it is moved forward and backward along the floor.

.My invention also relates to certain details of construction hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

To'this end my invention consists in the devices, construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and shown and illustrated in the in which,

Figure 1 accompanying drawings,

is aside-elevation of a portion of one of the beveled gear-wheels hereinafter referred to; Fig. 9., a transverse sectional elevation of the same on line 2-2',, Fig. 1; Fig.

. 3, a. side elevation of my device, the fan and the fan-case being shown in central. vertical section and one of the supporting wheels-being removed and portions of the frame hereinafter referred to being broken awa for the sake of clearness; Fig. l, a front-elevation of my machine with a part thereof illustrated in central vertical section; Fig. 5, a side-elevation of a portion of another of the gearwheels hereinafter referred to,and Fig. 6, a

' central sectional elevation of the same taken on line 6 -6, Fig. 5. A

Likeparts are represented by corresponding numerals throughout the drawings.-

In the drawings, 1 is a frame or housing consisting of a pair of disk-like plates 2-2\ Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Oct. 19, rein.

' Application filed June 12, 1911. Serial No. 632,538.

' rigidly connected by cross-rods 3 and having formed therewith or secured. thereto con trally, stub-shafts 4. Upon these two outwardly pro ecting shafts are journaled supporting drive-wheels 5, internally toothed, as at 6, and-being, "stout rubber. bands or tires 7. The internally toothed rims of the wheels are turned'i'n- Wardly, their internal diameter being slightly greater than the diameter of the disk-like portions 2 of the frame whichare oyerlapped by the wheel-rims. stationary ties of the wheels. against lateral The wheels are secured displacement by means of Thus the disks-2 form closures for the cavipreferably, shod with headed bolts 8 passing through the hubs 4:

and provided at their threaded ends with nuts').

10 is a shaft journaled in the disks 2 near their top and having fixed thereon at its'ends pinions 11, which engage and are driven by the internal teeth of the wheels 5.

12-12 are beveled gears mounted loosely upon the shaft 10 and constantly in mesh with a beveled pinion 13,loose upon vertical shaft 1e, stepped at its bottom, as'at 15, in a socket in the top of a pair of arched bars 16 springing from and supported by the cross-rods 3. 'At'its upper .end the shaft 14:

has fixed thereon the exhaust fan l7 inclosed in casing 18. The case is supported andheld in fixed relation to the frame of the machine bymeans of standards 19' bolted or screwed. at top to the underside of the case and at bottom to the inner faces of the disks 2; In the underside of the casing, near its center, is an inlet opening 19 to which is connected a flexible' inlet-tube 20 carrying at its bottom a.

nozzle-piece2l, of the'usual or any preferred construction adapted andarranged to move \v1th its downwardly turned mouth close to or against the floor. In the outeredge of the fan-casing is. an opening 22 which isconnected with one e'nd'of dust-bag 23, the other end of which is secured to and supported by the handle of the machine.

i It is evident that if the device be 'propelled upon its supporting wheels, the fan be caused to revolve by means of the gears intermediate the internal teeth of the wheels 5 and the fan. To be efiective, the 1 fan must be caused to rotate constantly in v the same direction. This is accomplished by means of the devices now to be described.

Transversely through the shaft 10 are holes 24 in which slide loosely pins 25. in

the hubs of the beveled ld respecthe pin tively-are recesses 9.6 for the reception of the pins and in whichthe pins freely slide vertically in their bearings. The hori'lsontal walls of the cup-like recesses 26., against which the ends of the pins abut, are toothed, as at the sides at the series of teeth being, in one direction, formed as shoulders or for the ends or" the pins, the opposite sides of the teeth being sloped or curved in wedge-like fashion so that when the end of rides upon these inclined surfaces, no motion is transmitted from the shaft to the gear. The shoulders of the teeth 27 in one of the gear-wheels 1.2 are disposed oppositely to the like shoulders of the companion gear-wheel 12, the arrangement being such that when. the supporting wheels are propolled in one direction, causing the'pinion.

and shaft 10-1l to revolve, one of t. e pins 25 will drop into contact with the shouldered side or one of the teeth 27, causing the corresponding gear-wheel L2 to rotate and-y through the beveled pinion l3to communicate'motion to the fan, and when the supporting wheels are moved in the opposite direction, the motion of the shaft 10 is reversed so that now the pin 25 of the other beveled gear-wheel drops into engagement with the Sll-IllldQI'fid side of the teeth 27, causing the geanwheel torevolve while the other, one stands idle. thus the two beveled gear-whccls 12, located.

at opposite sides of the beveled pinion 13, by

means of their clutch-pins alternately engage with the shaft 10, as the machine moves to and fro, causing the pinion 13 and the fan to rotate always in the same direction.

It the engagement of the pinion 13 with its shaft were rigid, the shaft would, with its fan, cease to rotate at each pause of the machine in its movement to and fro, and thus the benefit of the momentum of the fan would be lost. To obviate this diliicultythe pinion 13 is loose upon its shaft and is supplied with a clutch which engages and causes fanshaft to turn in but one direction.

The clutch consists of a sleeve 28 revoluble with but longitudinally movable upon the vertical fan-shaft. The projecting ends of the pin 29 passing horizontally through the fan-shaft engages vertical slots in opposite sidesof the sleeve 28, thus permitting the verticalmovement oi? the sleeve while causing the shaft and sleeve to rotate together. The lower end of the sleeve 28 is notched to form shoulders 30 which-when the sleeve is in its lowered positionengages correspond- -ing shoulders 31 formed in the top of the pin on 13. The vertically meeting surfaces ofthe sleeve 28 and the pinion 13 are beveled, as at 32,,50 that when the fan audits shaft revolving and, when the pinion is stationary the. beveled surfaces of the sleeve and pinion will, by their wedgelil'ce action.

It will be seen that,

menace connected, as at 36, with a rod 37 which, at

its lower end, is pivoted, as at 38, to a ring 39 clamped upon the upper end of the nozzle piece 21. g p I 40 is a bar pivoted at one end, as at ll,

upon theinner face of one of the frameplates-2 and at its other end pivotally connected, as at 42, with the nozzle piece 21 below the band When the handle 33 s pressed forwardly the parts from 34: to 4:2

inclusive, cause the front part of the nozzle to tilt slightly upwardly to permit ingress of air. When the handle of the machine is forced in the opposite direction the opposite effect takes place and the opposite side of the mouth piece of the nozzle, is, inc'likel manner, tiltedslightly upwardly.

In the foregoing description I have explained and illustrated a cheap, simple and effective form of clutch for the shaft 10 and the beveled gear-wheels 12, as well as for the fan-shaftand the pinion 13, but it should be understood that I do not limit my inven- 'tion to these specific clutches as other kinds of clutches operating with the same effect will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 157 v 1. In a device of the described character, in combination, a frame, supporting-wheels for the frame, a fan 'and a fan-casing mounted upon the frame, ashaft for the fan, gears connected with the'supporting wheels, two clutches in operative relation to the gears, arranged to positively drive the gearing dur-c log both the forward and backward movement of the mechanism, and a third clutch arranged to permit the fan to run independently of the gearing.

2. In a device of the described character, in combination, a frame, a single pair of supporting wheels frame, a fan and fan-casing mounted upon the frame,'a shaft for" the fan, a train of gears-intermediate the supporting wheels and theflshaft-adapted by the to-andi-fro' movement of the supporting wheels to rotate the shaft, a clutch-mechanism in said train of gears which communicates motion to the fan in but one direction, and another clutch mechanism which permits the rotation of the journaled upon thefan in such direction independently of the train of gears. I

3. In a device of the described character,

mamas the combination of a frame, a pair of internally geared supporting wheels jour-n'aled upon'the frame, a shaft journalcd upon the frame, a pair of pinions fixed upon the shaft and in operative engagement with said internal gears, a pair of opposed beveled gear Wheels loose upon said Shaft, for each beveled gear-Wheel a clutch which operatively engages the wheel with the shaft in but one direction, a fan, a fan-shaft,abeveled-pinion loose upon the fan-shaft and engaged at its opposite sides with the beveled gear-wheels, and a clutch which operatively engages the fan-shaft with the beveled pinionon-ly in the direction of the movement of thefan;

4. In a-ma'chine of the class described, the combination \vitha traction wheel for drivto be driven thereby, and driving means he tween said mechanism. and said traction Wheel; of clutch means operatively connecting said driving means and said traction Wheel, and other clutch'means operati-Vely connecting said driving means and said suction producing mechanism.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a traction wheel for drivsuction producing mechanism adapted ing,. suction producing mechanism adapted to be driven thereby, and (lrivingmeans between said mechanism and said traction wheel; of, one-way clutch means operatively connecting said driving means and said traction avheel, and other one-way clutch mechanism operatively connecting said driving means and said suctlon producing mecha-.- .nism, whereby rotation of said traction wheel in one direction disconnects said driving me ans.-

6, In a machine of the character described,

the combination with a traction wheel for driving, suction producing mechanism adapted to be driventhereby, anddnvmg means between said mechanism and said trac'-. tion wheel; of two one way clutches,one 1n terposed l.)etween said traction wheel and said driving means, andthe other mterposed between said driving means and said suction 

